Who prescibes, " Laughter-yoga!' as the best meedicine for illness,I came across a reference to Gallagher, the comedian. I remembered a childhood memory. As a child, I was a big fan of Gallasgher. i remember being at an airport in the 70's, in the days when they had pay Tvs where you could put quarters in the TV and watch it for five minutes and I blew all my change watching Ghallager smash watermelons. Recently, I saw the intro to the Alfred hitchcock show, from the 50's, where he predicted these TVs would come. Now I live in an apartment with digital TV, and half the time I can't even get any signals.

But i was at a barbecue today, because tomorrow is Labor day, and people were talking about what a waste of time television is. One guy said he gave away 3 tVs.

Another said a poll shows the average American watches 5 hours of TV a night. Another said she stopped watching TV and no longer misses it. Someone else said when they come home from work they are exhausted so they just watch television. Then someone said, " Why wasn't the radio called the teleradio?' And someone said, " Because it came first." True!

But what does it take to create good television, good writing, good poetry, art? It seems like everything has been done before. A man at the barbecue said he used to be an artist, but he has got too old and too dependent on his job for his pay check. It muust suck. and so why do we celebrate Labor Day, really? The government is not creating any new jobs. and the jobs that do exist, suck! We're told that we are free, but if you are a coal miner in America, or a coal miner in the Soviet Union, what's thw difference? It's still the same horrible work that some people might be willing to do, but you'd have to be crazy to like it.

And what is there to laugh about anyhow? Is Alfred e. Neuman still saying, " What me worry?' Are sitcoms supposed to make us laugh with their phony laugh track? There was a show in the 70's callled " MAke me laugh." It was a game show where funny people would tell jokes, and if the contestant didn't laugh, they won prizes. Well one time, a comedian told a joke that wasn't even funny, and the contestant let out a careless guffaw. He lost all of his money because of his weakness. what if you were telling your therapist or your priest your most humiliating experiences, and they just burst into uncontrollable laughter? That's why being famous would suck so much. You could win an academy award, but most people will just be reading fake gossip about you in Us magazine. The stars are trapped. Maybe j.D. Salinger was the wisest writer. He created a masterpiece, then went into seclusion, not trying to outdo a priceless piece of literature. And with that I'll shut up, lest you think I have a fake ego.